Nearly 1,000 Arrests in France; Trump Weighs In; Serbia Votes

2:59 • no narration • every clip credited on screen • French and Catalan clips carry our English subtitles • as of 10 p.m. PT, Saturday, Oct. 24 (7 a.m. Sunday in France)

News compilation, newest developments first. Every item is attributed to the outlet or official named.

Sunday morning — as of about 7 a.m. Paris time

• President Trump. At a rally in Perry, Georgia, on Saturday evening, President Donald Trump said France has “good police” who are “not allowed to do their job,” and that “France is right now burning down because it opens its borders to people who hate it” (RSBN video; Fox News). Fox News reported he also dismissed education grievances as the cause of the protests (Fox News).
• Arrest totals. As of this update, no national figure had been published beyond Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez’s “nearly 1,000” at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, which he said would rise (franceinfo). In Paris, the prosecutor’s office reported 64 arrests linked to the march, with 40 people in custody, six of them minors, mostly on suspected weapons possession or joining a group to commit violence (Euronews).
• Serbia is voting. Polls opened at 7 a.m. and close at 8 p.m. (11 a.m. PT) (Serbian National Assembly voter guide). CRTA counts 6.45 million registered voters and 8,392 polling stations (CRTA).

Overnight — about 3 a.m. Sunday, Paris time

• No new national total. As of this update, the Interior Ministry had not published a figure beyond Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez’s “nearly 1,000” arrests at 7:30 p.m., which he said would rise “significantly” (TF1 Info; BFMTV). By 10 p.m., BFMTV reported few signs of further trouble as prefectures kept updating custody counts; Nuñez thanked prefects, police, gendarmes and firefighters on X, saying ultra-left and radical far-left individuals had again sought to sow disorder in Paris, Marseille, Lyon, Grenoble, Nantes, Angers, Lille and other cities (BFMTV). Reuters reported the violence was less intense than a week earlier (Reuters via GMA).
• Toulouse, Bordeaux, Le Mans. The Haute-Garonne prefecture reported 30 arrests and 27 people in custody in Toulouse, three injured marchers including the 20-year-old badly hurt in the hand, and a judicial investigation into that injury; calm returned around 8:30 p.m. (La Dépêche). In Bordeaux, the Gironde prefecture counted about 15,500 marchers, 44 arrests, three injured and eight shops damaged or looted after clashes at Place de la Bourse (Gironde prefecture); Mayor Thomas Cazenave condemned “ultra-violent groups” (BFMTV). In Le Mans, the Sarthe prefecture said about 200 rioters tried for nearly three hours to reach the banned city center; 29 were arrested and held (Ouest-France).
• Reactions. Othman Nasrou, secretary general of Les Républicains, told BFMTV “it was firmness that worked today” (BFMTV video). Lenna Guerrier of the Union étudiante told BFMTV police had stayed more in the background along the route but accused them of wanting to “break the movement” (BFMTV video). Laurent Marcangeli, head of the Horizons group in the National Assembly, asked the government to “resume social dialogue” (BFMTV video).
• Barcelona: about 100 arrests. City Hall said about 100 of roughly 500 people involved were arrested, a quarter of them minors; 14 shops were hit and firefighters handled about 30 fires (Barcelona City Hall). Mayor Jaume Collboni said “we will not allow what happened in Barcelona to go unpunished” and that the city will take legal action, including against the legal guardians of minors (3CatInfo video; Barcelona City Hall). Catalan Interior Minister Núria Parlon did not rule out more arrests (El País).
• Italy. The Public Security Department’s final count stood at 9 arrests, 87 charged and 371 people taken in, 110 of them minors; PM Giorgia Meloni thanked police, and Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi said police “isolated and contained” violent fringes (ANSA).
• Serbia votes Sunday. Polls are open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. (Politika, citing the electoral commission) (Politika). The monitor CRTA said it will observe 500 sampled polling stations with more than 2,000 observers (CRTA). The media regulator REM said N1 and Nova S broke the pre-election silence; REM Council member Rodoljub Šabić said the statement never went before the Council (N1).

Saturday night — about 11 p.m. Paris time

• Nearly 1,000 arrests. At a 7:30 p.m. briefing, Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said there were “almost 1,000 arrests” nationwide and that the figure would rise “quite significantly” once data are consolidated; at the same hour on Oct. 17 there had been 385 (BFMTV video; BFMTV; France 24, with AFP). He said “the marches went well,” but that groups dressed mostly in black, which he described as radical far-left and ultra-left activists, broke away to attack police with constant projectiles and mortar fire (BFMTV video; Europe 1).
• No attacks on public buildings; limited looting. Nuñez said police prevented any attacks on town halls or police stations like those of Oct. 17 and that “a few” shops were damaged or looted in some cities, “in very limited number”; at the same hour on Oct. 17, about 300 shops had been looted (BFMTV; France 24). The ministry counted 289 actions nationwide, against 430 on Oct. 17 (franceinfo).
• Two seriously injured. Nuñez said two people were seriously injured, in Clermont-Ferrand and Toulouse, when police used force “amid extremely intense violence”; he said no disproportionate action had been reported to him and that there would “probably” be investigations (BFMTV video; franceinfo). In Toulouse, a 20-year-old man was badly hurt in the hand during clashes at the end of the march, the prefecture told AFP (franceinfo video; France 24). La Nouvelle République reported a young marcher hurt in the eye during a charge in Poitiers (franceinfo).
• Paris. Nuñez said clashes at the end of the march lasted at least two hours (BFMTV); franceinfo reported at least 2,000 people, including 500 rioters by the ministry’s count, in contact with police (franceinfo). The police prefecture said the march was entirely dispersed on the Cours de Vincennes by about 8 p.m., with a gendarmerie helicopter searching for remaining groups (BFMTV; BFMTV video). By 10 p.m., BFMTV reported few signs of further trouble (BFMTV).
• Marseille. Prefect Jacques Witkowski reported 51 arrests in the Bouches-du-Rhône, 20 people in custody, and three shops looted or damaged (BFMTV; Gomet’). The partner of a jeweler whose shop was looted told BFMTV he had closed at 6:15 p.m. on a calm street and was called 45 minutes later as his shutter was being torn off (BFMTV video).
• Lyon, Nice, Toulon, Tours. Lyon: 36 arrests and 22 injured, 18 of them police officers, the Rhône prefecture said. Nice: 61 arrests by 7 p.m. (Alpes-Maritimes prefecture); Mayor Éric Ciotti said he “condemns in the strongest terms” the attacks by ultra-right activists on the peaceful march (BFMTV video). Toulon: 64 arrests and 20 in custody; calm had returned by 8:30 p.m. (Var prefecture). Caen: 16 arrests. Montpellier: 6,300 marchers, 8 arrests, two officers hurt (BFMTV). In Tours, Nuñez counted 800 to 1,000 masked people among 5,000 marchers (franceinfo); a fire broke out at a Banque Populaire branch, cause unknown, police sources told BFMTV (BFMTV).
• Reactions. LFI leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon accused police of firing “into the crowd” at the end of the Paris march; Nuñez replied that “without the police, there would have been no march” (franceinfo). The CGT called for strikes to “take over,” with Nov. 5 in view; the Yellow Vests want an “Act 3” on Oct. 31 (franceinfo).
• Social media. The investigative site Blast published a letter dated Oct. 22 in which Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu asked Orange, SFR, Free and Bouygues Telecom to be ready to suspend access to TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat for a few hours this weekend if violence recurred (Blast; AlloForfait). AlloForfait reported no source indicating any actual cutoff (AlloForfait).
• Barcelona. An unauthorized youth gathering called on social media under the slogan “Institut Indignats,” modeled on France’s “Lycées Indignés,” turned into riots in Plaça de Catalunya, with burning barricades, looted shop windows and several arrests; the Mossos d’Esquadra had cleared the square by about 9:45 p.m. (Europa Press; Europa Press video; EFE via Infobae; laSexta). Catalan President Salvador Illa said “violence has no place in Catalonia” (Catalunya Press).
• Italy. The Public Security Department reported 9 arrests, 87 people charged, and 371 people taken in for checks, including 110 minors, with 4,292 identified nationwide (ANSA). Milan had the heaviest toll: 3 arrests and 167 taken in; about 10,000 marched (ANSA). La Stampa reported police moving to detain Youssef Siher, the alleged founder of Movimento 17 Ottobre (La Stampa).
• Serbia. The pre-election silence is in force until polls close at 8 p.m. Sunday (BTA).

Saturday evening — about 7 p.m. Paris time

• 410,000 marchers nationwide. The Interior Ministry counted 410,000 protesters across France, including 110,000 in Paris; the CGT union said nearly 800,000, including 250,000 in Paris (BFMTV video; Ouest-France, citing AFP). Ouest-France noted turnout was slightly lower than the 550,000 counted a week earlier (Ouest-France).
• Paris: calm march, clashes at the finish. The march from Porte d’Italie reached Porte de Vincennes calmly, then tensions rose during the dispersal: police used a water cannon and tear gas, and the police prefecture said “more than 500 rioters” were attacking officers on the Cours de Vincennes, with police “maneuvering to arrest troublemakers and encourage dispersal” (BFMTV; BFMTV video; CNEWS). Rioters targeted a car dealership on the Cours de Vincennes but did not get in; the prefecture said it was secured (BFMTV). A franceinfo reporter at the scene said masked groups threw bottles, wood and stones, and that a woman was treated for a fractured nose and jaw (franceinfo video).
• Paris arrests. The prefecture reported more than 3,000 checks and 64 arrests by about 5 p.m. (BFMTV’s live feed cited 65); 40 people, six of them minors, were taken into custody, the prosecutor’s office told BFMTV (BFMTV; BFMTV).
• Nice: marchers attacked. BFMTV reporters said about fifty men described as an ultra-right group attacked peaceful marchers in a banned march; firefighters treated the injured (BFMTV video). The Alpes-Maritimes prefecture told BFMTV that 11 ultra-right people were arrested and three people were injured; no shops were damaged (BFMTV). Earlier, the prefecture reported 40 arrests in Nice by 4:30 p.m. (BFMTV).
• Toulouse: serious hand injury. One person was seriously injured in the hand at the end of the march “in the context of dispersing a gathering”; the Haute-Garonne prefecture said the circumstances are not yet known and will be investigated (Ouest-France, citing AFP; BFMTV). Mayor Jean-Luc Moudenc told LCI the situation was “very much under control,” with 16 arrests (LCI video).
• Lyon. About 10,000 people gathered despite the ban, in several wildcat marches dispersed with tear gas (franceinfo); fires were lit, including a glass-recycling bin (BFMTV). The prefecture reported 29 arrests by 6 p.m., Le Progrès reported (franceinfo).
• Other cities. Grenoble: the Isère prefecture said 400 masked people in black bloc were attacking police with fireworks mortars and projectiles (BFMTV). Nantes: a shop was looted and six people arrested, the prefecture said (Ouest-France). Bordeaux: “hostile groups” threw projectiles and built barricades on Place de la Bourse (Gironde prefecture, via BFMTV). Water cannons were used in Lille, where the prefecture counted 15,000 marchers, and tear gas in Rennes (BFMTV). About 400 people blocked the A72 motorway in Saint-Étienne; traffic was restored before 6 p.m. (Ouest-France). In Toulon, the prefecture said the march “escaped the organizers’ control” and shopping centers closed at police request (BFMTV).
• Marseille. The prefecture counted 17,000 marchers, the CGT 100,000 (BFMTV). Mayor Benoît Payan said the march “went off calmly,” with “small overflows” at the end: “I’m not claiming victory” (BFMTV video; franceinfo).
• Orléans and the RN congress. City hall said just over 13,000 people marched against the National Rally congress and that it went off calmly (BFMTV). Inside the Zénith, Jordan Bardella, the only candidate, was re-elected party president with 98.98% of the vote (franceinfo). A Mediapart team was briefly hustled out before Marine Le Pen and Bardella took the stage, franceinfo reported (franceinfo).
• Press. BFMTV said its journalists were attacked and defended press freedom (BFMTV).
• Italy. Police briefly charged marchers in Turin’s Piazza Castello; in Rome there was tension near the Colosseum but no clashes, TG La7 reported; the alleged creator of the “Movimento 17 Ottobre” page, Youssef Siher, 30, is under investigation for incitement (TG La7). La Repubblica reported more than 200 young people identified and 63 detained in Rome (la Repubblica). In Ancona and Pesaro, no march formed (Corriere Adriatico).
• Belgium. In Brussels, about 300 people joined an unauthorized but tolerated march; youths built barricades from e-scooters and police used tear gas, with no major incident, RTBF reported (RTBF).
• Serbia. Polls open Sunday at 7 a.m. and close at 8 p.m.; preliminary results are expected about two hours later (Al Jazeera). DW reported allegations of irregularities and fears of a post-election crisis (DW).

Saturday afternoon — about 3 p.m. Paris time

• 135 arrests, no major incident so far. At a midday briefing, Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said there were “135 arrests at 1 p.m. across the whole country,” most of them from checks on people heading to marches and seizures of objects meant to be used as weapons, and “no major incident at the moment I’m speaking.” He counted 35,000 people in the streets and 136 public actions, against 60,000 and 264 at the same time last Saturday, and warned: “we are far, far from the end of the day” (franceinfo video; franceinfo; BFMTV). He cited more than 10,000 checks (Les Echos).
• Paris march under way. The march set off from Porte d’Italie at about 2:14 p.m. toward Porte de Vincennes after the unions accepted the imposed route (BFMTV; BFMTV video). The police prefecture said the situation in Paris and the inner suburbs was “calm,” with 17 arrests in the region, mainly for carrying banned weapons and firework mortars, after more than 1,000 checks; it flagged the risk of unauthorized marches at Place de la Bastille, which police cleared without clashes (Le Parisien; BFMTV; BBC). Le Parisien described the march as very large, with the back of the procession still waiting to leave 45 minutes after the start (Le Parisien).
• Tear gas in Lyon. Police used “a lot of tear gas” and charged to push back a march of several thousand people that a BFMTV reporter said had been peaceful and outside the ban zone (BFMTV video). Earlier, a gathering of about 150 near Lyon 3 University was quickly dispersed (Les Echos).
• Orléans. The prefecture counted 11,000 people in the anti-RN march at noon, saying the figure “may still change”; organizers said 26,000 (BFMTV, citing AFP). The march was calm, with chants of “Macron resign” and “Le Pen to prison”; the CRS 8 riot unit is deployed, and RN members were entering the Zénith through checks run by 200 party security staff (BFMTV).
• Political reactions. In the Paris march, LFI leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon told Macron, “There is still time for him to give in. After that, all that will be left is the exit door,” and called the route change a “pitiful” provocation (franceinfo video; BFMTV). Ecologist candidate Marine Tondelier said, “if it was a test of determination, we won it” (franceinfo).
• Other cities. Nice: police ordered several hundred people at the banned Place Masséna gathering to disperse; the prefect reported “just under ten” arrests of people carrying reinforced gloves and protective gear (BFMTV). Grenoble: people tried to block the A480 motorway, causing a crash with two people lightly injured, the Isère prefecture said (BFMTV). Marseille’s march formed on the Canebière with two gendarmerie Centaure armored vehicles nearby (Le Parisien). No march was authorized in Montpellier, Nancy, Caen or Annecy; in Limoges a court suspended the ban on gatherings of more than ten people (BFMTV; franceinfo). Lille-area curfews for unaccompanied minors were extended to Monday morning (BFMTV).
• Trappes. A rally in Trappes held a minute of silence for the victims of Friday’s attack (BFMTV video); the 12-year-old girl wounded in the attack remains in “absolute emergency,” BFMTV reported (BFMTV).
• Next steps. The Yellow Vests called a new day of action on Saturday, Oct. 31, with sit-ins at the National Assembly and town halls against what they call the government’s “authoritarian drift” (BFMTV; franceinfo). The Council of Europe’s human rights commissioner, Michael O’Flaherty, urged states to protect peaceful assembly (franceinfo).
• Italy. Police identified the man behind the “Movimento 17 Ottobre” Instagram page, a 30-year-old now being questioned in Milan, Tg1 reported (ANSA). The movement said it would reveal rally points only at 2:30 p.m. and the final destination at 3:30 p.m. (Wanted in Rome); marches are planned in eight cities (France 24).

Late morning Saturday — about 11:15 a.m. Paris time

• Paris route upheld. The Paris administrative court rejected the unions’ appeal against the prefecture’s new route, so the Paris march will run from Porte d’Italie to Porte de Vincennes, 1–7 p.m., BFMTV reported at 11 a.m. Paris time (BFMTV). The police prefecture’s spokeswoman, Hélène Denéchère, told BFMTV the prefect “adapted the setup to the evolution of the threat,” and that Friday’s terrorist attack in Trappes was among the factors considered (BFMTV).
• First tear gas in Lyon (late morning). Police used tear gas to disperse a gathering in Lyon, where marches are banned in several areas, the first tensions of the day, BFMTV reported (BFMTV).
• Orléans march under way. The counter-protest against the National Rally congress formed from 10:30 a.m. behind a banner reading “All united against fascism,” with PS leader Olivier Faure, CGT leader Sophie Binet, Saint-Denis Mayor Bally Bagayoko (LFI) and Trappes Mayor Ali Rabeh present (BFMTV; franceinfo). Binet said the RN “will never be a party like the others” and urged marchers: “Let’s not fall into the trap of division… We are, of course, peaceful” (BFMTV). Faure said xenophobic speech “can also inspire the most violent and deadly acts, as we saw yesterday in Trappes” (franceinfo). Pierre-Henri Dumont, spokesman for Bruno Retailleau, said the march would not let the left confront the RN “on the ground where it must be confronted” (BFMTV). About 3,000 police and gendarmes are deployed with two Centaure armored vehicles, water cannons, helicopters and drones; authorities expect up to 30,000 marchers (franceinfo). Mayor Serge Grouard ordered a 9 p.m.–6 a.m. curfew for children under 15 citywide on Saturday and Sunday nights (franceinfo; BFMTV). Inside the Zénith, about 5,000 RN members meet from 2:30 p.m. to re-elect Jordan Bardella, the only candidate (franceinfo).
• Nuñez rallies police. At the Paris-Vincennes police academy, Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said: “We know we will probably have disparate groups who will try to create incidents, either by attacking shops, or institutions and the security forces,” and told officers, “I know the violence you face” (BFMTV; franceinfo). Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu activated an interministerial crisis cell meeting at 11 a.m., Matignon said (BFMTV).
• Seizures and closures. Denéchère said “dangerous objects” meant for use against police, including firework mortars, had already been seized in checks across Île-de-France; at the Orléans toll plaza Friday night, police seized pétanque balls, a fake rifle, a hockey stick and a knife, a source told BFMTV (BFMTV; BFMTV video). The RATP closed 24 Paris metro stations from 9 a.m. at the prefecture’s request (BFMTV). BFMTV lists authorized marches in Lille, Strasbourg, Mulhouse, Grenoble, Marseille, Toulouse, Amiens and Paris (BFMTV).
• Brittany. About 60 protesters have blocked two roundabouts near Brest’s commercial port since early morning, with a fire lit on one; the court rejected the challenge to bans in central Quimper, Brest and Morlaix, Ouest-France reported (Ouest-France).
• Council of State. Late Friday the Council of State rejected the appeals by seven left-wing parties and rights groups against Macron’s call to ban non-union marches; the judge wrote that his statement “is not likely by itself to have effects on the exercise of the freedom to demonstrate,” leaving each ban to prefects case by case (AFP via Le Télégramme; Sud Ouest).
• Italy. Police carried out more than 150 searches in Milan, Monza and 20 other towns, mainly in Lombardy, tied to last weekend’s clashes and a chat that investigators say discussed attacking police; those searched include many minors with no record, la Repubblica reported (la Repubblica).

Earlier Saturday — about 7 a.m. Paris time

• Paris route goes to court. The Île-de-France intersyndicale is filing an urgent appeal (référé) Saturday morning at the Paris administrative court against the prefecture order that replaced the Bastille–Nation route with Porte d’Italie–Porte de Vincennes, Radio France reported (franceinfo); Le Parisien said a ruling is expected Saturday morning (Le Parisien). No ruling had been reported in BFMTV’s live coverage as of 7:08 a.m. Paris time (BFMTV). Organizers call the route “imposed” and say they will go to Bastille anyway, AFP reported (AFP via France 24). The 13th arrondissement mayor, Jérôme Coumet, said the march now leaves Porte d’Italie at 2 p.m., with the tram interrupted along the route (actu.fr).
• Politicians react. Ecologist leader Marine Tondelier called the last-minute change “very problematic and dangerous,” warning many marchers may still show up at Bastille; LFI deputy Manuel Bompard accused the government of “playing chaos again” and urged marchers to show “order and discipline” (actu.fr).
• Yellow Vests “Act II.” The Yellow Vests list more than 700 actions in France Saturday, including 500 marches and actions at 86 roundabouts, 21 gas stations, two oil depots, 33 train stations, three ports, 17 bridges and 17 toll plazas, according to a map on their website, AFP reported (AFP via France 24). In Paris their map lists calls including a 9 a.m. blockade at the Arc de Triomphe and a 2 p.m. gathering at Place Jussieu (actu.fr).
• Marseille march allowed. After first banning all gatherings, the Bouches-du-Rhône prefecture authorized the intersyndicale march “as an exception” (AFP via France 24), on a route from Les Réformés to Porte d’Aix; trams, buses and metro should run normally, while the 11 p.m.–5 a.m. curfew for everyone near shops and public buildings stays for Saturday and Sunday nights (France Inter; CNEWS).
• Orléans. The National Rally congress expects about 5,000 activists Saturday and twice that Sunday; police sources put the expected counter-protest at 10,000–15,000, BFMTV reported (the Loiret prefect had said 20,000–30,000). Trams are stopped all day, and the prefect banned “all gatherings” Sunday (BFMTV).
• Closures and sports. The Culture Ministry closed the Louvre, Orsay, Picasso museum and Grand Palais Saturday (actu.fr); several Ligue 1 matches were postponed and PSG–Lyon moved to Monday (BFMTV). Paris City Hall activates a crisis cell at noon with more than 1,000 cleaning staff; the Val-de-Marne prefecture restricted gatherings around five shopping centers and set a minors’ curfew there through Monday morning (actu.fr).
• Rights groups. Amnesty International denounced “a slide toward authoritarian practices,” and the Human Rights League (LDH) said it filed appeals against bans in several cities and asked for a UN observation mission, AFP reported (AFP via France 24).

Friday, Oct. 23

• President Trump. Asked Friday about the NFL game in France this weekend, President Donald Trump told reporters: “It’s looking like tomorrow is going to be a bad day in France, so you worry about it. I would have said the NFL could have probably postponed that match… because France is really in trouble. That’s what happens when you go left. That’s what happens when you allow unlimited numbers of people into your country from very unfriendly countries” (Rapid Response 47; Fox News; BFMTV). Late Friday the White House posted a video on X with the text: “Take a look at France. Then ask yourself what kind of future you want for America” (White House on X).
• Macron clarifies Trappes remarks. After his Trappes statement that the attack was “the first time” a terrorist act was planned to kill people because of their skin color or religion drew criticism — National Rally president Jordan Bardella cited the victims of Ozar Hatorah, the Hyper Cacher, Father Hamel and the Nice basilica; Socialist deputy Jérôme Guedj called it “factually false”; Crif president Yonathan Arfi said it “deserves a correction” — President Emmanuel Macron wrote on X that he wanted to “recall an essential truth and avoid any controversy: our country has suffered, in recent years, attacks that struck Christians because they were Christian and Jews because they were Jewish. None of these victims must be forgotten. No pain must be ranked” (Le Parisien; Macron on X).
• Victim named. Macron named the man killed in Trappes as Pengo Bossio Wangi and said five others are in critical condition, “including a little girl who is fighting to survive” (Macron on X). BFMTV described him as an amateur MMA hopeful (BFMTV). The suspect’s mother, 66, came forward to police herself, franceinfo reported; the PNAT said Friday evening the suspect had not yet been questioned because his presence was required for the search of his home (franceinfo).
• Trappes mayor. Mayor Ali Rabeh on franceinfo praised the BAC officers who arrested the suspect: “These men are heroes who saved lives,” and said the Republic “is far too absent” in communities like his (franceinfo).
• Orléans route moved. The Loiret prefecture moved Saturday’s march against the National Rally congress out of the city center; it now starts at 10:30 a.m. from the Esplanade du Souvenir Français, CGT Loiret’s Pascal Sudre told AFP, with 20,000–30,000 people expected (franceinfo). Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said the prefect “rightly” chose a less exposed route given “the presence of ultra-left individuals” (Le Parisien). Authorities expect 2,000–3,000 radical activists could join the march; three bridges close from 7 a.m. and trams stop for two days (franceinfo; France 3).
• Curfews for minors. The Loire-Atlantique prefecture banned undeclared marches in central Nantes and Saint-Nazaire Saturday and set a 9 p.m.–6 a.m. curfew for unaccompanied minors there (Ouest-France). Nice has a minors’ curfew from 9 p.m., and Marseille’s curfew is extended to adults from 11 p.m., RTL reported; the prefecture later dropped its plan to suspend transit (CNEWS) (RTL).
• Paris route: unions. Union leaders called the prefecture’s Porte d’Italie–Porte de Vincennes route “impossible to secure, with all the bridges, the entrances and exits of the périphérique,” Le Parisien reported (Le Parisien).
• Self-defense purchases. Yves Gollety, owner of the Armurerie de la Bourse in Paris and president of the national gunsmiths’ association, told Reuters pepper sprays and tear-gas canisters are his top sellers since last weekend, with orders up tenfold; chamber of commerce president Alain Di Crescenzo urged shopkeepers on Europe 1 not to arm themselves (Reuters). RTL and TF1 reported stock shortages at gun shops (RTL; TF1 Info).
• PM Lecornu: threat “remains high.” Visiting Limoges, where city hall burned on Oct. 17, Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said Saturday’s security setup “is not the same as last week’s” and that, after briefings with intelligence services, “the threat level remains high tomorrow,” first from the “ultra-left,” with vigilance also on crime that profits from the unrest (BFMTV; franceinfo; franceinfo). He called the Limoges fire “deliberate, planned, organized” and said the state will pay to rebuild the city hall (LCI; franceinfo).
• Paris: Bastille route banned. The Paris police prefecture on Friday evening (Paris time) published an order banning the Bastille–Nation route negotiated with unions the day before; the order says the march may be held 1–7 p.m. from Porte d’Italie to Porte de Vincennes along the Maréchaux boulevards, at the edge of the capital (franceinfo; Le Parisien). The prefecture told Le Parisien the original route was “difficult to secure,” cited a “high risk of urban violence” and said last weekend’s wildcat marches and the Yvelines attack played a role (Le Parisien). The Île-de-France intersyndicale will file an urgent appeal (référé) at the Paris administrative court Saturday morning, Radio France reported; the student union Fage called the reversal “unacceptable,” and CGT Paris co-leader Adèle Tellez told France Inter it “creates more confusion, and therefore more danger” (franceinfo).
• Council of State rejects appeals. The Council of State rejected the appeals against President Macron’s statements that only union marches should be authorized; its order says the statements “do not reveal the existence of a decision to ban all demonstrations, nor an instruction to that effect to prefects,” and that it is up to prefects to assess the risks of each declared march, franceinfo reported (franceinfo).
• Macron in Trappes: “a turning point.” Speaking at Trappes city hall Friday evening (Paris time), President Emmanuel Macron said: “What happened today is a turning point, because it is the first time there has been a planned terrorist act to kill our compatriots, our children, because of the color of their skin or the religion attributed to them,” and called it “a racist terrorist attack.” He added: “Do not be afraid, because the Republic will hold” (franceinfo; franceinfo; BFMTV). Trappes Mayor Ali Rabeh told BFMTV the 12-year-old girl is out of surgery and in intensive care (BFMTV), and told franceinfo it was “an attempted mass killing” and “a racist and Islamophobic terrorist attack” (franceinfo).
• Trappes investigation. The national anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office (PNAT) said the suspect, identified as Kévin T., born in 1987, was arrested in Coignières and is in custody; a Sten-type submachine gun and a tear-gas canister were found in his car, and his apartment was booby-trapped “with three gas bottles and electrical wires connected to a timer.” PNAT said one person was killed and five wounded whose condition is “not stabilized,” and that a member of the suspect’s “direct family circle” was also taken into custody (franceinfo; franceinfo; CNEWS). The investigation covers murder in connection with a terrorist enterprise on grounds of real or supposed race, ethnicity, nation or religion (franceinfo).
• Closures. The Opéra de Paris, the Cartier and Louis Vuitton foundations, the Bourse de Commerce and BnF sites announced closures Saturday; the Château de Versailles closes at noon, AFP reported (franceinfo). franceinfo reported shops in Paris, Lyon and Bordeaux boarding up storefronts, including some off the march routes (franceinfo).
• Macron meets students; Lecornu on Parcoursup. Macron met about 20 high-school student representatives for nearly three hours at the Élysée; Renouveau lycéen’s Nathanaël Combary said he promised a “complete overhaul” of Parcoursup and a “reform of school democracy,” but said “we are not satisfied” and called on students to keep mobilizing (franceinfo; BFMTV). Ryad Rani of the Union syndicale lycéenne: “Now we want concrete acts” (BFMTV). PM Sébastien Lecornu meets the organizations Monday; Macron’s office promised “concrete decisions” then (franceinfo). In Limoges, Lecornu said: “Yes, we are going to move on Parcoursup” (franceinfo). Macron was due at the Macdonald police barracks in Paris’s 19th arrondissement at 7 p.m. Paris time to thank police (BFMTV).
• Orléans. Nuñez said 3,000 police and gendarmes will secure Orléans this weekend for the National Rally congress; Saturday’s declared march takes a route that avoids the city center and shops, and Sunday’s march is banned, a ban he said the administrative court upheld (BFMTV; BFMTV; BFMTV live). CGT Loiret’s Pascal Sudre told AFP 20,000–30,000 people are expected (via BFMTV).
• Paris route dispute (earlier Friday). The Paris police prefecture proposed a new route between Porte de Vincennes and Porte d’Italie instead of the agreed Bastille–Nation march; the Île-de-France intersyndicale called that “unacceptable” and said it will go to Bastille as planned, AFP reported (franceinfo; BFMTV). The prefecture also banned leaving objects on public roads that could be used as weapons from Saturday morning to Monday morning, and the Opéra de Paris, Fondation Louis Vuitton, Fondation Cartier and Bourse de Commerce will close Saturday (BFMTV). Vélib’ is closing 110 stations (franceinfo).
• Local decisions. Bouches-du-Rhône Prefect Jacques Witkowski authorized one CGT march in Marseille (BFMTV). Gatherings are banned in central Nancy (water cannon deployed), Besançon and Mulhouse; Strasbourg allows only a CGT route; Nîmes and Alès ban marches, with a curfew for minors in Nîmes; Lyon published its central ban perimeter and will add 40 private security guards (BFMTV). The PSG–Lyon match moved from Sunday to Monday night at the prefecture’s request (LFP via BFMTV). Limoges prosecutors opened a judicial investigation into the city hall fire and sought detention for the suspects (BFMTV).
• Trappes / La Verrière shooting (morning). Around 10:30 a.m. Paris time Friday, a gunman fired a submachine gun from a car in Trappes and La Verrière (Yvelines west of Paris), killing one person (age 26) and seriously wounding four others, including a 12-year-old girl struck by eight rounds, franceinfo reported, citing AFP and local mayors (franceinfo). A 39-year-old suspect was arrested by the BAC in Coignières. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez called it a “murderous rampage” and said an automatic weapon was fired from a vehicle at five people (BFMTV). The Parquet national antiterroriste opened a probe for murder and attempted murder linked to a terrorist enterprise, with an aggravating circumstance of race, ethnicity, nation or religion (PNAT via franceinfo). The gun was reported as a WWII-era STEN (Le Parisien, RTL). President Emmanuel Macron (X) and Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu (X) posted reactions; Nuñez later went to Trappes.
• 70,000 police for Saturday. Nuñez said 70,000 police and gendarmes will be deployed Saturday, including CRS and mobile gendarmerie, and cited “numerous calls” on social networks from the ultra-left to violence and looting; RAID, GIGN and BRI are mobilized (BFMTV; BFMTV; franceinfo).
• Defense council. President Emmanuel Macron chaired a defense and national security council at the Élysée Friday morning with Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu and Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez; the Élysée said “additional decisions” on security were expected (BFMTV: video, live). At 3 p.m. Paris time he receives high-school student organizations, then visits police (BFMTV).
• Intelligence forecast. A note from France’s territorial intelligence service expects 400,000 to 500,000 protesters nationwide on Saturday and anticipates “attacks on public buildings and symbols of the state,” with “probably opportunistic looting,” Le Parisien reported (Le Parisien).
• State of emergency raised. Former Prime Minister Gabriel Attal told France 2 that a state of emergency “is not the choice that has been made,” but “if the situation is not restored” after Saturday, “of course it will have to be declared” (BFMTV).
• Unions push back. CGT leader Sophie Binet told franceinfo the bans are “very serious” and that freedom to protest “is what makes the difference between a democracy and a dictatorship” (franceinfo). She called for strikes on Nov. 5 (franceinfo). CFDT leader Marylise Léon told TF1 it is “not up to the president to decide who is legitimate” to file a march route (BFMTV). La France insoumise called the measures an “authoritarian headlong rush” and urged people to march “peacefully” (Le Parisien).
• Court challenges (morning). Hearings on protest bans were set for Friday afternoon at administrative courts in Lyon, Marseille, Nantes (for Le Mans) and Orléans; the Council of State appeal against Macron’s “general recommendation” is pending (BFMTV; franceinfo).
• Curfews / Lille. Paris extended the night curfew at Place de la République and Les Halles through Monday morning, Oct. 26 (franceinfo). Lille banned protests in the city center. Drôme ordered a curfew for minors in central Valence Saturday night (Le Dauphiné Libéré).
• Orléans. Sophie Binet will join Saturday’s counter-protest against the National Rally congress and said “we will not prevent her congress from taking place” (franceinfo). Nuñez was asked to inspect the Orléans security plan (Le Parisien).
• Business / museums / metro. Many shops plan to close Saturday; Medef and merchant groups urged stronger protection (franceinfo; Sud Ouest). Museum and metro measures from Thursday’s coverage remain in force for the weekend (see Oct. 22 update).

Elsewhere in Europe

• Italy. Milan expects new protests Saturday called by Movimento 17 Ottobre; 500 Folgore paratroopers are arriving, and the Quirinale signed the new security decree, Sky TG24 reported (Sky TG24). Saturday 3 p.m. rallies are also announced in Reggio Calabria, Catanzaro and Palermo (StrettoWeb). ANSA reported police raids at dawn Friday in 18 cities targeting about 100 people identified in last week’s unrest, half of them minors; Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi said there was “certainly coordination” among those involved, and Movimento 17 Ottobre said its announced squares are “cancelled” and it will name three meeting points in each city at 2:30 p.m. and the final square at 3:30 p.m. (Adnkronos; ANSA). Euronews reported 1,500 officers will lock down Rome and 1,800 police and soldiers Milan on Saturday (Euronews). The Local reported Movimento 17 Ottobre said on Telegram it changed its gathering spots because of the police presence and will disclose new ones at 2:30 p.m. Saturday (The Local). The U.S. Embassy in Rome listed an “Italy Out of the War” march from Piazza della Repubblica at 2 p.m. and a possible 3 p.m. gathering at Circo Massimo (U.S. Embassy Rome).
• Serbia. Election silence began at midnight and runs until polls close at 8 p.m. Sunday (Vreme). RFE/RL’s Balkan Service reported finding some 500,000 people registered to vote without a full address (RFE/RL). The monitor CRTA recorded 116 incidents of physical violence or verbal threats in the campaign, and several people were arrested on what prosecutors said was suspicion of plotting election-night disturbances, DW reported (DW).

Coming up

• Overnight: Orléans curfew for children under 15, 9 p.m.–6 a.m., Saturday and Sunday nights (Mayor Serge Grouard, via BFMTV); Lille-area curfews for unaccompanied minors run to Monday morning; Toulon has a curfew for unaccompanied minors Saturday night (Var prefecture, via BFMTV). Nuñez said police would stay “extremely vigilant” overnight to prevent looting (BFMTV).
• Sunday, Oct. 25: Serbia election; RN congress day 2 in Orléans (all gatherings banned by the prefect; BFMTV); PSG–Lyon moved to Monday; NFL Steelers–Saints at Stade de France (AP).
• Monday, Oct. 26: PM Sébastien Lecornu meets student organizations; Macron’s office promised “concrete decisions” (franceinfo).
• Saturday, Oct. 31: Yellow Vests day of action (BFMTV).
• Thursday, Nov. 5: CGT strike day (Sophie Binet, franceinfo).

Friday’s update: Oct. 23. Thursday’s coverage (Macron’s ban on non-union marches, the Paris route, museum and metro closures): Oct. 22 update.

Known fakes: the 2024 church-fire video and AI-generated “Paris on fire” images are not from this unrest and are not used here. CNews apologized for airing footage of protests in Albania as live images of the Paris march (Le Parisien). BFMTV flagged a false call for a mass gathering in Clermont-Ferrand (BFMTV).

Clips used under fair use for news commentary; sources are credited in the video.